Abstract:

Biomass gasification is a promising alternative to the direct use of fossil fuels for producing sustainable and clean value-added products. However, the challenges, including low energy efficiency, CO₂ emission, and ash agglomeration, significantly delay the deployment of the technology. In this work, we will discuss the application of auto-thermal gasification of biomass using in-situ heat produced from CaO carbonation. In addition, a new concept, integrated CO₂ capture and utilisation (ICCU), is applied to biomass gasification to produce low-emissions syngas. The new concept achieves zero CO₂ emissions by integrating gasification with CO₂ capture and utilisation (IGCCU) for the first time. This approach allows a significant reduction in CO₂ yield from 0.95 mmol g^-1CaO g^-1lignin (benchmark experiment) to nearly 0, using CaO as an adsorbent and catalyst. The disappeared CO₂ was converted into 0.95 mmol g^-1CaO g^-1lignin of CO by introducing H₂ to the sorbent regeneration stage.

Speaker:

Dr Chunfei Wu (CW) is a Reader at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and the Chemical Engineering Programme Lead at QUB. He has worked in the areas of converting renewable and waste resources to energy, fuel, and chemicals through catalytic thermo-chemical routes for about 20 years. He is the PI of a EU RISE international exchange programme in relation to biomass gasification and carbon capture and utilisation. Dr Wu is Co-I of a EU H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014 Flexi-PyroCAT project focusing on the co-processing of waste plastics and biomass and a Co-I of EU H2020-MSCA-RISE-2019 for Advanced Zeolite Catalysis for Sustainable Biorefinery towards Value-added Chemicals. Dr Wu has also been involved in several EPSRC, Innovate UK, Royal Society and other EU projects. For example, he is the Co-I in EP/R000670/1 using microwave for bio-oil upgrading; Co-I in Innovate UK (Ref: 29478) for advanced battery thermal control and thermal using thermal phase change materials; Host academic for a Royal Society K.C. Wong International Fellowship (Ref: NIF\R1\191817). He has published >220 peer-reviewed journal papers with >11000 citations (H index of 62, Google Scholar) in the areas of catalytic thermo-chemical conversion of wastes. He is a Managing Editor of Biomass and Bioenergy and the Editor-in-Chief of Carbon Capture Science & Technology, a Gold Open Access journal published by Elsevier. Dr Wu is also the Chair of the International Association for Carbon Capture (www.iaccr.org), a registered charity in Northern Ireland.